As of September 1, I’ve been settling into a lovely apartment in Saint Paul near the Minneapolis border. I’m having a great time furnishing the place to make it a home, and I’m excited to be spending fall in Minnesota for the first time in three years. I also did a big thing last month: I visited California for the first time ever!
TWO YEARS! I can’t believe I’ve been traveling for two full years already. This second year wasn’t the same whirlwind as my first year. I’ve spent most of it in either Minnesota or Texas at a much slower pace, which was needed.
But I’m ready for a change. I want to settle down again and take a break from being on the road full-time. Head down memory lane with me and read about what’s next.
I had a couple of days this week between apartment rentals in Austin, so I drove down to San Antonio and stayed at a hotel a block from the Alamo and two blocks from The San Antonio River Walk.
It’s bluebonnet season here in Texas! On Wednesday I moved from one Airbnb to another, which meant I had a few hours to either work from a brewery or coffee shop—or find an adventure. Guess what I chose?! I drove about an hour out of Austin to the Muleshoe Bend Recreation Area where I found fields and fields of bluebonnets.
Last week I volunteered at the Stateside Theatre for the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival here in Austin, managing lines, taking tickets, answering questions from attendees, and keeping people away from the red carpets. I also got up close to many, many celebrities. Hello, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Susan Sarandon!
I’m back in Minnesota for the rest of the year! After enjoying a peaceful month in coastal Maine, I made the return trip to Minnesota a five-day adventure—spending nights in Boston, Syracuse, Cleveland, and Chicago. I stopped in Buffalo, New York to check out the Peace Bridge to Canada. I was very tempted to drive over that bridge and continue 1.5 hours to Toronto to begin my 3-month adventure again, but it’s great to be back with family in Minnesota.
Acadia National Park is only 15 minutes from the place I’m staying in Maine this month, and I’ve visited the park several times. It’s one of the country’s most popular national parks but is very quiet in November. Perfect! With 26 mountains, 32 historic bridges, and 45 miles of rustic carriage roads, there is always something new to explore in Acadia.
I’m enjoying November staying at a beautiful loft apartment in the woods of Trenton, Maine, a few blocks from the ocean and only 15 minutes from Acadia National Park. Most of the tourists have left until next May—which means a lot of stores and restaurants are closed—but it’s been so peaceful and quiet for those of us who are still here.
I’ve been wanting to get to Vermont for a long time because it combines two things I love but don’t usually find at the same time: rural and liberal. Vermont also tops lists of states with the best fall colors, so I knew I had to get here this autumn. As my time in Vermont comes to an end, I’m reflecting on another wonderful month on the road.
I’m spending the month enjoying autumn’s changing colors and daily sunsets over Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont—the state’s largest city, with only 45,000 residents. Each evening, I walk two blocks from my apartment to the waterfront to watch the sunset over the Adirondack Mountains of New York across the lake.